Sunday, March 22, 2020
The HINDU Notes – 22nd March 2020
VisionIAS
13:50
📰 India, France conduct joint patrols from Reunion Island
The Navy had so far carried out coordinated patrols only with maritime neighbours, and had rejected similar U.S. offer
•India and France have conducted joint patrols from the Reunion Island for the first time, signalling New Delhi’s intent to engage with friendly foreign partners in expanding its footprint on the Indian Ocean, focusing on the stretch between the East African coastline and the Malacca straits.
•India has so far carried out coordinated patrols only with maritime neighbours and had rejected a similar offer by the U.S.
•The Indian Navy conducted a joint patrol with with the French Navy from the Reunion Island in February. The patrol was conducted by a P-8I aircraft with French Navy personnel onboard, two defence sources independently confirmed to The Hindu .
Greater understanding
•“We have robust engagement with the French,” one of them said. The surveillance was done in the southern Indian Ocean off Mauritius. “The P-8I was there for a week,” he said.
•There was greater understanding between India and France on each other’s concerns, especially in the maritime domain, the source said. “They also have capacity constraints there, and we can share responsibilities. The patrols will be periodic. There is no set pattern,” the source added.
•As reported by The Hindu last November, visiting French Navy Chief Admiral Christophe Prazuck had stated that they were “looking forward to organising joint patrols with the Indian Navy” in 2020 and working on the precise objectives. Speaking at an event, he said the region of the patrols could be north-western Indian Ocean or southern Indian Ocean “around the islands that are part of France”.
•“France is a safe country for us, there will be no concerns in conducting joint patrols with them,” a third official said on why France was the first country selected to conduct joint patrols. France is also the first country to deploy a liaison officer at the Indian Navy’s Information Fusion Centre (IFC-IOR) as part of efforts to improve maritime domain awareness (MDA).
Major strategic partner
•France has steadily emerged as a major strategic partner for India with big-ticket defence deals and increased military-to-military engagement.
•The Indian Navy is currently inducting French Scorpene conventional submarines, being built in India under technology transfer, and the Indian Air Force will soon get the first batch of its 36 Rafale fighter jets.
📰 Cabinet okays ₹48,000-cr. plan for electronics manufacturing
THE HINDU NEWSPAPER IMPORTANT ARTICLES 22.03.2020
Insight IAS Prelims 2020 SUBJECT WISE Test 21 With Solution PDF
VisionIAS
06:50
Insight IAS Prelims 2020 SUBJECT WISE Test 21 With Solution PDF
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Saturday, March 21, 2020
Employment News 21 March to 27 March 2020 Download pdf
VisionIAS
19:16
Download Employment News pdf of this week 21 March to 27 March 2020 . Check latest job recruitment
Employment News pdf This Week - 21 March to 27 March 2020.
Hey Aspirants, its the latest for free of Employment Weekly Magazine. You can check latest job recruitment at various office/board. You can check upcoming vacancies and for this week/month. To download this employment magazine click on the link given below.
Click Here to download Employment News 21 March to 27 March 2020 – Download pdf
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Daily Current Affairs, 21st March 2020
VisionIAS
18:52
1) World Down Syndrome Day observed on 21 March
•Down Syndrome International assumes that all people with Down syndrome should play an instrumental role in decision making about matters relating to, or affecting, their lives.
•The theme of World Down Syndrome Day 2020 is “We Decide”.
2) International Day of Forests celebrated on 21 March
•The International Day of Forests is being organized by the United Nations Forum on Forests and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in partnership with Governments, the Collaborative Partnership on Forests and other relevant organizations in the field.
•Every year, a theme is decided by the by the Collaborative Partnership on Forests. The theme for International Day of Forests 2020: Forests and Biodiversity.
3) International Nowruz Day celebrated globally on 21 March
•Nowruz marks the first day of spring which has been celebrated on the occasion of the astronomical vernal equinox that generally occurs on 21 March. It is celebrated by more than 300 million people all around the world as the beginning of the new year and is being celebrated for over 3,000 years in the Balkans, the Black Sea Basin, the Caucasus, Central Asia, the Middle East and other regions.
4) World Poetry Day celebrated globally on 21 March
•United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recognized 21st of March as World Poetry Day during its 30th session which was held in Paris in 1999.
5) International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination: 21 March
•The International Decade for People of African Descent was proclaimed by General Assembly resolution and will be observed from 2015 to 2024. The International Decade for People of African Descent was undertaken by the Human Rights Council in Geneva as part of its 43rd session. As the Decade approaches its half-way mark in 2020, this year, a review has been scheduled to analyse the progress made and to decide on further requisite actions.
6) APEDA signs MoU with SFAC for development of agriculture sector
•Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) and Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC) has signed an Memorandum of Understanding. The MoU aims for the development of agriculture and allied sectors as well as its exports for bringing better value to the stakeholders. The two organizations are also working towards linking of Farmer Producer organizations, farmers’ cooperatives to the export value chain. The above aim can be achieved through capacity building, creation of infrastructure, facilitating primary and secondary processing in the clusters.
7) RBI to infuse Rs 30,000 crore to boost liquidity
•The Reserve Bank will infuse liquidity by purchasing of Government securities under Open Market Operations (OMOs) for a total amount of Rs 30,000 crores. The amount will be infused in two tranches of Rs 15,000 crores each in the month of March 2020.
8) UN releases World Happiness Report 2020
The World Happiness Report 2020 covers the period of 2017-2019 and analyses the countries on following 6 variables:
•GDP per capita
•Social support
•Healthy life expectancy
•Freedom to make life choices
•Generosity
•Perceptions of corruption
Ranking of countries as per World Happiness Report 2020:
1. Finland
2. Denmark
3. Switzerland
4. Iceland
5. Norway
6. Netherlands
7. Sweden
8. New Zealand
9. Austria
10. Luxembourg
144. India
The HINDU Notes – 21st March 2020
VisionIAS
18:40
📰 Defence procurement draft released
After feedback from industry, the norms will come into effect on April 1
•The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has for the first time introduced leasing of defence equipment as a new category for acquisition in the draft Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) 2020.
•The draft was released by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday for further suggestions from industry before being finalised for promulgation. It will come into effect from April 01, 2020, and supersede DPP 2016. “This DPP would remain in force till 31 March 2025,” the draft said.
•Other proposed measures include making after-sales support part of the capital acquisition contract, higher indigenous content in acquisitions and incentives for local material and software and emphasis on product export under offsets. The draft was finalised by a committee headed by the Director General (Acquisition), which was set up in August 2019.
•Leasing has been introduced as a new category for acquisition in addition to the existing ‘Buy’ and ‘Make’ categories to substitute huge initial capital outlays with periodical rental payments, the draft stated.
•“Leasing is permitted under two categories, Lease [Indian] where Lessor is an Indian entity and is the owner of the assets and Lease [Global) where Lessor is a Global entity. This will be useful for military equipment not used in actual warfare like transport fleets, trainers, simulators, among others,” the draft stated.
•The draft proposed increasing the indigenous content stipulated in various categories of procurement by about 10% to support the ‘Make in India’ and a simple and realistic methodology had been incorporated for verification of indigenous content for the first time, the MoD said.
•It included “assurance of procurement on a single vendor basis from Aero Engine manufacturing unit and chips from FAB manufacturing units established in the country.”
•New chapters have been introduced for procurement of software and systems related projects due to fast obsolescence, Post Contract Management to facilitate and provide clear guidelines, given long time of defence deals. Another new category introduced is ‘Buy’ (Global – Manufacture in India) with minimum 50% indigenous content on cost basis of total contract value.
•The scope and options for product support have been widened to include contemporary concepts like Performance Based Logistics (PBL), Life Cycle Support Contract (LCSC) and Comprehensive Maintenance Contract (CMC) to optimise life cycle support for equipment. “The capital acquisition contract would normally also include support for five years beyond the warranty period,” it added.
📰 Crime and punishment
UPSC Civil Services Exam 2019 Interview Postponed
VisionIAS
09:00
UPSC Civil Services Exam 2019 Interview Postponed
UPSC Civil Services IAS Mains Exam 2019 Postponed: Union Public Service Commission has postponed the interview of the final stage of selection for Civil Servants for the country due to COVID-19 impact.
An official statement released by the commission reads as ” Due to the prevailing conditions caused by the Novel Corona Virus (COVID-19), as a precautionary measure, the Personality Tests (Interviews) of the candidates of the Civil Services (Main) Examination, 2019 scheduled from 23rd March, 2020 to 3rd April, 2020 are deferred till further orders, “
